Case Number 07990

Warning Shot

Every purchase you make through these Amazon links supports DVD Verdict's reviewing efforts. Thank you!

All Rise...

New Judge Chris Claro starts off his reviewing career with a bang.

The Charge

A missing gun holds the key to murder.

Opening Statement

1967 was the year David Janssen finally stopped running. As the title
character of The Fugitive, Richard Kimble, Janssen finally tracked down
the one-armed man who killed his wife. With the end of the series, Janssen
returned to the big screen as an L.A. cop accused of shooting first and asking
questions later.

Though his early resumé is filled with such titles as Francis [the
talking mule] Goes to West Point and Bonzo Goes to College, David
Janssen appeared in over 30 films and starred in his first series, Richard
Diamond, Private Detective, before The Fugitive made him a household
name. On the heels of that series came this taut thriller about a similarly
tortured man attempting to clear his name.

Janssen's stardom peaked with The Fugitive, but he worked steadily in
the movies and on TV—he starred in two subsequent series, O'Hara, U.S.
Treasury and the warmly remembered Harry O—before he died just
shy of his 50th birthday. Warning Shot is quintessential Janssen: a man
in pursuit of the truth and of himself.

Facts of the Case

After recovering from a bullet wound to the stomach, L.A. police sergeant Tom
Valens (Janssen) has been back on duty for about seven months. When he shoots a
man who pulls a gun, Valens is suspended by the force, vilified by the public,
and determined to establish what really went on that foggy night.

The coroner's inquest fails to clear Valens, and between divorcing and
soothing his aching gut with buttermilk, has only days to prove that he is not
the trigger-happy cop that the public perceives him to be. In the process, the
fog-shrouded mystery that envelops Valens begins to clear.

His journey takes him through a mid-'60s Los Angeles where the issue of
police brutality arises in the wake of the shooting. The film's brief but
effective examination of excessive force on the LAPD infuses the film with an
ironic currency that adds to its drama.

The Evidence

With his taciturn steeliness, David Janssen created characters who were easy
to root for but hard to love. Like his contemporary James Garner, Janssen
conveyed a weary resignation with his lot. But Janssen rarely leavened his
outlook with the irony that made Garner so winning.

Warning Shot puts Janssen's taut, dyspeptic persona at the center of
a mystery peppered with hey-look-who-it-is appearances by everybody from
Stefanie Powers (Hart to Hart) to Lillian Gish The Night of the Hunter). With Sam
Wanamaker (Private Benjamin) as a D.A. with an axe to grind and Keenan
Wynn (Dr. Strangelove) as
Valens's pragmatic partner, Musso, the acting in Warning Shot raises the
film to an unexpected level.

The film establishes a situation with obvious parallels to The
Fugitive. Valens and Musso are on a nighttime stakeout, in pursuit of a
serial killer. When a shadowy figure emerges from the fog and pulls a gun,
Valens shoots and kills the man, who turns out to be a respected local doctor.
Since no one can find the gun that Valens swore was there, he is charged with
manslaughter. Released on his own recognizance and given a week to prepare his
case, Valens sets out to make things right. The audience knows that he is
innocent of the crime of which he has been accused, just as they knew Richard
Kimble was innocent. The pleasure of Warning Shot is watching Valens
untangle the web in which he finds himself.

The remainder of the drum-tight Warning Shot focuses on Valens's
dogged efforts to clear his name and stay alive. Along the way, he encounters a
veritable Love Boat of stars, including Steve Allen's two-faced TV host, George
Grizzard's affably swinging airline pilot and Joan Collins as Valens's
soon-to-be ex-wife, who has the most memorable line in the occasionally turgid
dialogue: "Don't just stand there, need me." The film's script, by
Mann Rubin (Brainstorm, An
American Dream) and based on a novel by Whit Masterson, moves along even
while it lingers to afford old pros like Eleanor Parker (The Naked Jungle), as the doctor's
not-so-bereaved widow, the chance to leave their mark in just one scene. With
contributions from Walter Pidgeon, George Sanders, and Ed Begley, as Valens's
boss, Warning Shot is a hoot for fans of dependable character actors.
Where else would you get to see Carroll O'Connor as a Mexican-American police
department official? Warning Shot also scores points for its brass-heavy
score from the absurdly prolific Jerry Goldsmith. (On the Goldsmith scorecard,
Warning Shot slides nicely between The Sand Pebbles and In Like Flint.)

The Rebuttal Witnesses

As enjoyable as a B-movie is, it's still a B-movie, and Warning Shot
trumpets its B-ness with generally flat lighting and bland composition. If you
weren't aware it was a feature film, you'd think you were watching an old Quinn
Martin (The Streets of San Francisco) cop show.

The film, directed by Buzz Kulik (Brian's
Song), veers dangerously close to parody in a scene where Valens is jumped
in an office building. Between the slow motion and the image distortion, it's a
brief but disconcerting detour into '60s cliché.

Closing Statement

There's a lot of enjoyment to be gleaned from the sleek, mid-'60s compact
that is Warning Shot. It handles its twists well, thanks to adept acting
and a tight story. Janssen's terseness gives the movie a bracing edge, and
George Grizzard's (Advise and
Consent) performance is a jaunty gem.

The Verdict

Despite the bare-bones packaging and total lack of extras—there isn't
even an insert sleeve in the package, and would scene selection have been that
difficult to include?—Warning Shot is found not guilty by reason of
unabashed, unadorned entertainment. David Janssen is at the top of his game and
'60s L.A. never looked better.